Vega sat in the pouring rain, sopping wet. She removed a piece
of drenched hair from the side of her face, and pulled herself up
off of the muddy surface of the ground. She trudged over to a tree
on the side of this highway, and plopped down under it. Now how
great is this? she said to herself. She continued sitting,
waiting for any signs whatsoever that there were other people around.
She obviously wasn't observant enough, due to the fact that someone
was standing next to her and she didn't even notice.
"Are you lost?" a low voice from behind her asked.
She whirled around to view a guy about her age in a black suit--the
typical image of what the classic "amish" would look like.
"What was your first clue?" she murmered sarcastically. She stopped
herself, realizing that sarcasm wouldn't get her anywhere in this
situation. She paused and then said, "Yeah, I'm lost."
"Okay, just checking," the boy said, turned around, and began walking away.
"Wait! Aren't you going to help me?!" she demanded, insulted.
"I thought you'd never ask," the boy said, turning and chuckling
to himself. Vega rolled her eyes as usual. She got up, still soaking
wet, and fell into step with the stranger.
"So, who are you?" he asked. Vega was getting a little sick of
people asking her that so she quickly made up a name. "Umm... Sheila, yeah that's it. Sheila."
"What you weren't sure there for a second?" he asked her suspiciously.
"Nah, it's Sheila, I'm sure," Vega lied.
"Whatever you say, Sheila," he answered, turning down a dirt path
that lead into the pasture she'd been staring at from her previous
seat amidst the dirt. As they approached, Vega noticed there weren't
any cars around. She wondered if anyone else was home, and began
to get suspicious herself. I was only sitting her for about
15 minutes, how could he have possibly seen me in that time?
she thought. She looked again at the boy who she was with. "Do
you by any chance have a phone?" she questioned.
"Phone? What's a phone?" the boy replied, raising an eyebrow.
++++++++++
"It can't be!" Jacqui just kept repeating to herself.
"Can't be who?" Mickey demanded, getting unnerved.
"Well... it looks like.. her dad... but it can't be... he died a
couple of years ago in a car crash... it was fatal and he died instantly...
it just can't be him, but who else could it be?!" she said aloud,
but really trying to sort things out to herself.
Mickey, by now, was completely confused. "Oh, okay," he said in
an incomprehensive voice, dragging out the last sylable.
Cautiously, Jacqui dropped Mickey's warm embrace and approached
the man who was crying over Becca's crumpled body. "Umm... sir?" she asked quietly.
The man didn't respond immediately. He simply tried to stifle his
crying and almost began choking. He took a few deep breaths and
wiped his tear-stained face. Then, he turned to face Jacqui. "Can
I help you miss?" he asked similarly from before.
She leaned over and asked, "Mr. Chrisom?". The man's face again
turned pale with shock and he backed away from her. He quickly
closed the doors to where Becca's body was, went back toward the
driver's seat of the ambulence, and quickly squealed the tires away
from the scene, leaving the other ambulence to fit the other 3 injured
persons. Jacqui's jaw dropped and she folded her arms. "Now this
is truly messed up," she said with a disgusted expression. Mickey walked back up to her.
"Was it who you thought it was?" he asked, curiously.
"I'm not sure," she stated emotionlessly. "I said Becca's last name and he ran away!".
"Well that's weird," he said.
She looked at him and said simply, "Duh!".
Mickey quickly changed topics. "So how (and who?) are they other guys?" he inquired.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you their identities," she said,
"But let's go find out how they're doing," she suggested, curious
herself to the status of the others.
Chika and Mickey (who would soon be labeled Chiko) walked over to
another paramedic and asked if there were any improvements in the
guys. Another paramedic nodded his head. "The blond one has his
eyes open, but he has a severe concussion. The damage to parts
of his brain could be permanent, but he will be okay, and normal,
if that's what you want to know. As for the brown haired one, he's
been in a coma since the time we arrived. We're not sure if he's
going to make it. The one with the black hair's hands are ruined.
They were crushed--". Jacqui cut him off.
"It's all the black haired one's fault. This never would have happened
if it weren't for him," she said, bitterly.
The paramedic frowned and turned his back to her. He started lifting
up Isaac's stretcher and lifting him carefully into the back of
the ambulence. "Hey guys," he said, addressing the other paramedics
on the scene, "since we've only got this one car, someone's going
to have to stay here and 2 of you will have to stay with him, because
Kevin drove off in the other one for God knows why," he said to
the other three workers left with him.
"I'll stay," one woman answered. "But who are you going to leave
behind? The blondie or the other one?" she questioned.
"I think the other one," he replied. "He's in way less danger than the kids."
"I'll stay too," a heavy-set man volunteered. "C'mon, let's get
this kid into the back of the van," he finished, bending down to
pick up Taylor's limp body. Jacqui walked over to Taylor as they
loaded him in. She had forgotten her affection for him momentarily
while Mickey was there. "Can I go with him?" she asked the heavy-set man.
He looked at her. "And you are..?"
"The other girl who was in the accident, and this is my friend...
they both are. I want to be sure they're okay," she said, a hint of hurt in her tone.
He stared at her for a second. "Alright, you can go, but don't
touch them. I don't want their conditions to get any worse," he
said, hussling toward the front seat.
Jacqui turned around to face Mickey. "Are you going to be okay?" he asked.
"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine," she answered, trying to give a weak smile.
"Do you want me to follow you to the hospital and wait with you?"
he asked staring at the ground.
Jacqui stifled a smirk. "I'd like that," she said simply, and the
man closed the doors to the ambulence behind her.
She looked at Mickey through the windows and waved. He waved back
and ran toward his red car with the liscense plate of "D Minor".
Jacqui turned her attention to the two guys she was riding in the
back with. Isaac and Taylor. She reflected back on this day.
It still didn't seem quite like reality. She noticed that Taylor's
eyes were open as the medic had said before. She said in a whisper. "Hey Tay."
His eyes didn't move. They just kept focus on the ceiling. The
heavy-set man who was riding shot-gun opened a small window to the
back and said, "He can hear you, but he won't respond. The concussion
has his vision completely blurred which is why we have to get him
to the hospital or else he could slip into a coma just like the
other one," he said. Noticing Jacqui's startled look of worry,
he knew he had to say something much more reassuring. "Err.. I
meant to say that the odds are good, and we just have to get him
to the hospital so we can guarentee the status will be good," he
said, and nodded approvingly.
Jacqui's worry seem to be much less after that correction. "I hope
you'll be okay," she said to the very-out-of-it-Taylor, and she
put her head lightly on his heart, just to make sure. Chapter 27
